Act 28:5-6 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 5. And he shook off , etc. In this was remarkably fulfilled the promise of the Saviour; "They shall take up serpents," etc. . (*) "beast" "serpent" (f) "no harm"

Acts 28:5-6

Verse 5. And he shook off, etc. In this was remarkably fulfilled the promise of the Saviour; "They shall take up serpents," etc. Mk 16:18.

(*) "beast" "serpent" (f) "no harm" Mk 16:18, Lk 10:19 Verse 6. When he should have swollen. When they expected he would have swollen from the bite of the viper. The poison of the viper is rapid; and they expected that he would die soon. The word rendered "swollen"--πιμπρασθαι--means, properly, to burn, to be inflamed, and then to be swollen from inflammation. This was what they expected here, that the poison would produce a violent inflammation.

Or fallen down dead suddenly. As is sometimes the case from the bite of the serpent, when a vital part is affected.

They changed their minds. They saw he was uninjured, and miraculously preserved; and they supposed that none but a god could be thus kept from death.

That he was a god. That the Maltese were idolaters there can be no doubt. But what gods they worshipped is unknown, and conjecture would be useless. It was natural that they should attribute such a preservation to the presence of a divinity. A similar instance occurred at Lystra. Acts 14:11.

(+) "Howbeit" "However" (++) "looked" "expected" (g) "that he was a god" Acts 14:11